The present invention relates to a motor vehicle, especially a truck, with a cooling device for an internal combustion engine, said cooling device comprising at least one heat exchanger, said heat exchanger being mounted elevated on or behind a cab.
Mounting the heat exchanger of a cooling device of a truck on the roof of the cab and surrounding it with a housing-like shroud is known (German Offenlegungsschriften Nos. 2,747,785, 2,424,929, United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,338,300). Air intakes and exhausts are provided in the area above the windshield and also in the area above the side windows (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,424,929). Such arrangements encounter considerable opposition in practice owing to the considerably increased danger of scalding to which the driver or a passenger is exposed, since the coolant, usually water, escaping from a defective heat exchanger, can penetrate the interior of the cab very rapidly, especially if the windows are open. This danger of scalding exists particularly in accidents wherein the heat exchanger is damaged by said accident.
An object of the present invention is to provide a motor vehicle of the type described hereinabove in such fashion that the level of protection of the vehicle occupants against scalding by a defective heat exchanger in the cooling device is increased. This object is attained according to the present invention in that a liquid-collecting container is disposed at least beneath the heat exchanger.
The present invention thus prevents the hot coolant from running out in an uncontrolled fashion if the heat exchanger is defective, and prevents the coolant from possibly entering the vehicle interior. Instead, provision is made for collecting and catching the coolant, which escapes as a result of a defect, in a predetermined area.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the heat exchanger is mounted in the liquid-collecting container which is a closed container except for one or more air intake openings and air exhaust openings, the container being resistant to pressure and breakage. The edges of the air intake openings and air exhaust openings are located at a distance from the bottom and side walls of the container. In this embodiment, the container which holds the heat exchanger, by virtue of the arrangement of intake and exhaust openings, serves as a collecting tank for the coolant which escapes from the heat exchanger, both during normal operation and in the event of the container being turned on its side as the result of an accident.
According to a further feature of the present invention, the edges of the air intake opening or openings and the air exhaust opening or openings in the liquid-collecting container have extensions pointing toward the interior of the container. These nozzle-shaped fittings, on the one hand, improve the guidance of the cooling air flow and, on the other hand, reliably ensure, especially in the case of the vehicle being turned on its side or upside down as the result of an accident, that no coolant can escape.
Another feature of the present invention involves the provision of a lining of absorbent material for the interior walls of the container. This measure prevents coolant from escaping in the event that both the heat exchanger and the container within it are defective. The container lining is also especially advantageous when a cooling blower is located inside the container along with the heat exchanger, since this lining suppresses the noise produced by the blower, if a sound-absorbent material is used for the lining.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the air intake opening or openings and the air exhaust opening or openings of the liquid-collecting container are provided with sealing elements. This measure provides protection against escaping coolant even in the event that the container is not made sufficiently large to capture all of the escaping coolant. It is especially advantageous for the sealing elements to be linked to position-dependent and/or pressure-dependent switching elements.
These switching elements, so-called position sensors or pressure sensors, respond to excessive lengthwise or crosswise inclination or excessive force upon or deformation of the vehicle, and trigger the closing of the sealing elements.
In another embodiment of the present invention, valves are provided in the coolant supply and return lines leading to or from the heat exchanger, said valves likewise being provided with position-dependent and/or pressure-dependent switching elements. These switching elements ensure that the supply of coolant to the heat exchanger will be interrupted in the event of excessive longitudinal or transverse inclination or excessive loading of the vehicle, so that if the heat exchanger becomes defective, only the volume of coolant contained in the heat exchanger and the lines to the valves can escape. This also permits reducing the size of the collecting chamber and/or further increasing the safety of the vehicle occupants.